1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable data device of a size that can be put in a bag or a pocket, or of a size that can be carried around. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable data device that can be used in various forms.
2. Description of Related Art
Further miniaturization, increase in resolution and reduction in power consumption of liquid crystal display devices have been promoted. Miniaturization, higher integration, and lower power consumption of ICs and LSIs that constitute control circuits and drive circuits have also been promoted. Further, batteries have been miniaturized, reduced in weight and increased in capacity, and control sections have been reduced in thickness. As a result, various types of portable data devices have been commercialized. In other words, portable data devices of about a size that can be put in breast pockets and having vertically- or horizontally-oriented liquid crystal display sections, such as mobile telephones, portable electronic games, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), digital cameras, video cameras and electronic books have been widely used. In order to provide larger display screens for easier view of display and to make the devices smaller for better portability when carried around, these devices are formed of separate bodies, which are a display-side body including a display section and an apparatus-side body including electronic circuits and the like. The portable data devices formed of the display-side body and device-side body are foldable or bendable.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-244764 discloses a structure in which an input device including a keypad and a base unit including a liquid crystal display are connected at a corner using a rotation axis. For carrying around, the input device is rotated so that it overlies the base unit. For use, the input device is rotated to be horizontally oriented. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-135380 discloses a structure having a first housing foldably connected to a second housing by a hinge. When the first housing is rotated while it is opened or closed, the display orientation is changed, depending on the rotation angle and the position of the device, to make a display easier to view.
In the structure of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-244764, the base unit and the input device are rotatably connected so that their positions can be changed to a home position and a use position. Further in the device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-135380, the display orientation of a display screen is changed depending on the use position.
However, the above two inventions are constructed such that two housings are connected to each other at their ends and are rotated, which makes the housings to have a poor positional relationship between the home position and the use position. Therefore, the portable devices of the above two inventions are difficult to operate and hard to view at use. Since the portable devices can only be in either of the home position or the use position, use of the portable devices in a wide variety of forms cannot be realized.
Furthermore, the device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-244764, when used in the horizontal orientation, loses its balance because the centers of the input device and the base unit are displaced from each other, and thereby it has poor operability.
A portable data device of the present invention is adapted to make first and second bodies movable to a position where they are easier to use. For making possible use of the portable data device in a wide variety of forms, the first body including a display section is moved so that the device is in a first or second position. Furthermore, the first body can move to make the device be in a third position.